Thursday, September 2, 2010

DTV abandons MPEG4 conversion

A couple of years ago Dialog TV promised MPEG4 to its subscribers for better clarity & also the ability to increase the number of channels per transponder which would mean more channels at comparatively lower rentals. This was carried out with Dialog TV teams visiting residences and replacing decoders with the new MPEG4 compatible ones. Many decoders were replaced and now almost 2 or 3 years the project has been abandoned. We are receiving reports that older defective MPEG4 decoders are being replaced with new MPEG2 decoders effectively indicating the death of MPEG4 conversion project.

This would mean that new channels additions would take place at the expense of existing channels or new transponders which would increase Dialog TV overheads. HD channels could be accommodated into MPEG2 but would cost more in terms of transponder space.

There was a time advertising was carried out with indicators that the Dialog TV platform was MPEG4 but that was stopped after we highlighted the false information on this blog.

It is sad to note that Dialog TV has decided to follow the steps taken by Comet Cable. the result for Comet Cable was its ultimate death. We are yet to see if Dialog TV would end up having the same result. It is not too late since Dialog Management can turn things around and make this into a more successful customer oriented operation. There are no indications of that happening at the moment but hopefully, it does happen eventually.

30 comments:

Unknown said...

Dialog tv is going nowhere. It is just a matter of changing the channels and increasing the subs.

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Lisura said...

Correct Podiman.

DTV has become a great robber !

They got the signature of subscribers to exchange to new MPEG4 box and now giving the old box in place of that.

And replacing the existing channels like Zing with new channels as a tactic to increase the pricing.

alf said...

I have reliable information that some of the people who destroyed Comet has now joined Dialog TV and has started to destroy it as they did with Comet.Moda Nushad cant understand what this Piyal and comet destroyers are doing to dialog TV.It is a pity Naushad perera has gone to this level and recruited people from bankrupt Comet and they are now destrying Dialog.

Mind u this Piyal is worse than moda Romesh Anthony who is not to be heard of now.

star said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
star said...

LBN added Ten Cricket.

Lisura said...

Well done LBN.

Where is future today ?

When will DTV will have Ten Cricket ?

All the cricket related programs have been removed from Ten sports.

@ Alf

No wonder DTV is in the same path as comet cable. It is clear by their actions i told you all before.

DTV have fully deviated from CBNSat strategy and moved completely into comet cable strategy.

We can see the results in years to come !

Unknown said...

whats mpeg 4?

Unknown said...

Discovry science & discovery turbo dialog tv rs 400/= per month...

dish tv rs 24/= per month....


dish tv have 340 chanels 850/= per month......

Unknown said...

zing is very best chanel in bollywood.....
it removed....


TH tv & Prime tv is not best chanel...
there are not removed....

Why???????????????

SLP said...

@Neel,
Heh heh: Simple logic
TH Tv belongs to Tharunyayata hetak, I.E. Namal Rajapakshe... If removed dialog will be off air with cease of broadcasting license.

Prime TV is first arrived than NTV. so they got a prime chance to live prime against NTV. ;)
Seems to me, NTV is far better than Prime TV. However both are not yet organized to deliver content as a media corporation.
I,e Programme line up of St:World (Criminal Minds, Bones, CSI, Castle, the moment of truth etc.,)

Zing yet is a crap, I dont think many again like for it too. removing it wont make a big difference. But as you said TH/Prime is more crappy than zing ;)

Lankan Blogger said...

This is just a small minority of people who are grumbling about Dialog TV. A majority of DTV users are content with the channels that are available. Like me.

While it is true that Dialog does not provide the best service, you people ignore the facts and make the situation sound worse than it really is. You all seem to act as if there are only a few channels on DTV, whereas DTV has 7 sports channels and 5 English entertainment channels which are quite good. Sure, it would be nice to see Ten Cricket added, but you all should realise that transponders cost money.

Why can't Dialog remove those Hindi sh** to make room for better stuff? Well, it is much cheaper for Dialog to get a bouquet of channels (e.g: Zee Sports, Cafe, Studio + Cinema, Zee TV) than to get just the channels they want. The answer is as simple as that.

Why is Dialog so expensive? This is Sri Lanka, not India. There isn't a market of one billion to tap into, and Dialog can't gain a million TV customers in a few months. Cable TV was a luxury until CBN Sat came along. But still there are only a few hundred thousand customers who use pay TV in Sri Lanka. Add in the rising cost of pretty much everything needed to run the business, plus the taxes, and the bill runs quite high.

Why is Dialog so slow? Perhaps for this one we can blame Dialog to a larger extend. The staff are probably rather inept. But transponder costs are high and new channels are expensive to add. It should be noted that PEO TV is also not much better that Dialog. LBN can add any number of channels because

Some say that CBN Sat was much better than Dialog at running the business. But nobody realises that Dialog has introduce many more channels that CBN ever did, and Dialog has a bigger backbone to run the business (plus the government's favour).

Whatever is said in this blog, there is not going to be a mass exodus of customers since there is no practical alternative to Dialog. PEO TV isn't really that much better, and LBN is only available in a few areas.

In addition, the admin is supposed to voice our concerns, not his own. IF he were acting as our representative, then he would try to reach a balanced view (that dialog is not going out of business just because a few customers are displeased).

So I ask the admin to kindly stop predicting doom for Dialog and just report the facts and let us do the discussion.

Unknown said...

@Lankan Blogger,
For all your explanations the best thing Dialog TV should have done was to go for MPEG4. Then there is enough room for many more channels or could have disconected few TP's to cut the cost. WHY DIDN'T THEY DO IT???? Only thing they did was to force the customes to sign that the equipment belongs to DTV. Did you personaly gain anything from that so call switch over to MPEG4.
Most of the subscribers are staying with DTV due to the fact that they have invested their hard earn money on it. If not for that DTV will be as good as Comet cable.

Unknown said...

dear slp.....


dish tv have 12 music chanels...

dialog tv have 3 music chanel.

dialog tv poor satelite connection.....

im i correct???

Unknown said...

Please update zing & natgeo wild.....

Lisura said...

Welldone LBN !!!

http://lbncable.blogspot.com/2010/09/lbn-adds-ten-cricket.html

Priyantha said...

ten action soon on dish tv, Already telecasting advertisement in Ten sports. Still dialog not add ten cricket. i dont know why????

Lasith said...

zee sports will be rebranded as ten action....

Lisura said...

Dish TV south silver package has :

Ten Sports
Ten Cricket
Star Sports
Star Cricket
ESPN
Zee Sports
DD Sports

only INR 125 ( LKR 315 )
with some more 151+ channels

Really affordable package for a sports fan.

Lisura said...

For all the people like "Lankan Blogger" Visit and compare...

http://www.dishtv.in/packages.aspx
http://www.dialog.lk/personal/tv/packages/standard-packages/

compare and see for yourself how DTV robs your hard earned money.

Ramesh said...

Hi Lisura
I contacted a DishTv agent in Pettah and was told the following costs,
Installation - Rs. 12500
Separate Set top box - Rs. 9000
Premium package (Platinum/South Platinum - INR 325) rental - Rs. 1250 per month,and the 1st year's rental free.
Do you have any other agents who can offer a better price?
If so revert back to ramesh1962@yahoo.com
Thanks Mate

Lisura said...

Full installation charges are OK. Box only price is bit too much. Should be able to get it around 7000. If you have an LCD or intend to buy 1 in near future I recommend going for Dish HD box which the price would be 11 to 15 K.

INR 325 = LKR 850 (approximately)
if you pay online using your credit
card.

Another option is Videocon DTH which the box is 7000 with 6 months free !

Drop an email to dialogtv@yahoo.com with the details of your supplier who gave you the pricing. I'll send you some more contacts.

Unknown said...

@Ramesh,
Visit Warunasat.com site and get in touch with Warunasat. He can help you out with all Indian DTH packages. Get more information from him before you decide what DTH package to go for.

Sajjad said...

Before MPEG2, DTV should change some current channels with good one e.g. CCTV news (who watches it anyway), cause there are some 75 slots and only about half viewable channels,

Lisura said...

I think DTV should send a questionare to all subscribers and do a research to see what is viewed by most and what is not.

At the same time they can ask the subscribers if new channels they want. Then they can do a costing and remove / replace accordingly.

DigitalTV said...

When will the Discovery Science & Turbo free viewing ends ?

mld said...

There is another new chaneel from TEN Sports called "TEN ACTION".

I think there going to start it very soon.TV Commercials about TEN Action is now going on TEN Sports & ZEE Sports

mld said...

ZEE Sports to be rebranded to Ten Action
Sep 10, 2010 09:33 PM| Read / Post comments

ZEE Sports is changing! The channel will now be known as Ten Action and will concentrate purely on football, to coincide with the start of the European soccer season.

Whilst the network has not yet officially announced the details of the move, it is expected to do in the coming days.

Ten Action will showcase leagues such as La Liga, Serie A, Scottish, Dutch football, the Uefa Europa and Uefa Champions League. It will also air the Coca-Cola Championship.

In the UK, ZEE Network launched ZEE Cafe in the summer to showcase sport properties such as cricket and hockey. There are no plans to launch an outright sports channel as yet.

ZEE Network owns a majority stake in Ten Sports parent company Taj Television.

Editor: Lucky Nijjar Source: IndianTelevision

Lasith said...

Zee sports Will be Renamed As TEN Action on this Saturday...

TV & Radio Sri Lanka said...

Please continue commenting under the latest post titled "May Dialog TV Rest In Peace".

Admin